Glasshouse resident throws stones

Poneke parades his concern that the ‘right blogosphere’ exemplifed in his  mind, it would appear, by Kiwiblog, WhaleOil and Rust Never Sleeps have failed to excoriate  Bill English for claiming an allowance for the use of his own Wellington house. Mr English has claimed, presumably, that he is the MP for a remote South Island constituency and thus ‘entitled’ to make such a claim. This despite the fact that he, his wife and children have been resident in Wellington – full time – for some years.

Adam does not care what other bloggers have said about this. After all what they blog about is their business. Poneke’s angst in this regard, apparently shared by others is really rather silly. His angst would appear to be driven by his views about David Farrar and WhaleOil. Adam doubts whether either blogger would claim to be other than partisan when it comes to the National Party. So why complain, just because they do not blog about your particular concerns, neither are a medium of record.

Adam’s view is that Bill English has committed the cardinal sin of being the resident of a glasshouse who has commenced to throw stones. He may not have ‘broken the rules’ but he has undoubtedly diminished his ability to speak with authority on  a number of issues related to his portfolio.

Like a number of UK MPs the issue is not that he ‘broke’ the rules, but the perception of privilege and elitism that his actions have engendered – indeed disdain and arrogance might be a better description, given what might be seen by some as a very convenient re-arrangement of ownership regarding the English family home in Wellington.

Yet it is pertinent to note that English is not the only MP to take advantage of such arrangements as John Armstrong notes.

To Adam apart from the points noted above this reveals the incredible insularity of MPs and the collective disengagement from reality that they seem to suffer from.

In English’s case the circumstances call into question his political judgment and make Adam wonder whether English should be Deputy PM and Finance Minister, as he is likely to be seen by many as having forfeited any moral authority he might have possessed when it comes to the need for restraint and austerity.

It would appear though that change may be on the way, in that PM John Key has ordered a review of these arrangements. Obviously the PM’s political antennae have smelt public concern.

Yet we need to avoid over reaction. Perhaps this should be looked at in the context of an overall review of funding of MPs.

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